EDS Gets Bank of America Deal

EDS ( EDS) said it got a $1.1 billion deal to help integate Bank of America's ( BAC) acquisition of FleetBoston.

Plano, Texas-based EDS said the eight-and-a-half-year deal covers outsourcing for the integration of communications infrastructure. EDS said it assumed responsibility for the Bank of America network in early 2003 as part of a 10-year, $4.5 billion contract.

EDS will provide secure telecommunications and networking solutions using voice-over Internet protocol technology and help desk services for 1,600 banking center sites, plus automated teller machines and other locations. As a part of the agreement, approximately 150 former Fleet associates will move to EDS.

The news comes on the heels of a sharp setback for EDS, which last week saw its debt downgraded to non-investment, or junk, grade by Moody's. The New York-based ratings agency cited EDS' slow progress in a long-promised turnaround.